


Bow Versus The Horde

by Cardtriq



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Cults, Gen, Life in the Horde (She-Ra), The Evil Horde
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26374282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cardtriq/pseuds/Cardtriq
Summary: Adora's attempt to trade herself for Glimmer fails and Shadow Weaver wipes her memory. Now Bow has to pretend to join the Horde to try and get Adora back, without falling prey to indoctrination himself!
Kudos: 11





	Bow Versus The Horde

The Horde soldier made his rounds around the empty prison block. He shifted his helmet uncomfortably. He wasn’t used to his armor yet. In fact, it was the first time he had even worn it. He wasn’t even assigned to a squad yet.

He knew that they had just sent him to patrol to keep him busy, but that was okay. He’d have been too nervous just waiting in the selection room.

He shifted his helmet again before giving up and just taking it off entirely. That was a lot better.

“Bow?”

The Horde soldier froze. He had completely forgotten about the prisoner. He must have taken a wrong turn to end up in her wing.

“Bow, is that you?”

Slowly, Bow turned to see Angella in her cell. It was a nice cell compared to all the others with furniture, books, and a bed, but it was still a cell. It made Bow’s stomach churn to see his former queen imprisoned like this, but he had made his choice.

“Oh my goodness, it is you,” Angella said, coming up to the energy field, “You’ve taken an awful risk coming here for my sake.”

“We’re not supposed to talk to the prisoners, sorry,” Bow said, trying and failing not to apologize to the enemy.

“Bow? What are you talking about?” Angella asked, her face already turning to fear.

“We’re not supposed to talk to the prisoners,” Bow repeated.

Angella slowly backed away from the energy field in horror, “No. Not you, Bow. You were the best of us. What has the Horde done to you?”

Bow didn’t answer. He wasn’t supposed to talk to the prisoner.

“Do you still remember them? Your family? Glimmer? The people you fought for?” Angella demanded.

“The Horde is my family now,” Bow said, putting his helmet back on.

“No, it’s not!” Angella yelled, “The Horde has poisoned your mind!”

“We’re not supposed to talk to the prisoners,” Bow repeated for a final time. He turned and walked away, leaving Angella calling after him in his wake.

_A Few Months Earlier_

Bow ran out of Bright Moon’s gates and down the ramp to meet Glimmer in a hug, “Glimmer! I’m so glad you’re okay.”

She was bruised, cut, and shaking, but she was alive. And crying.

“Oh Bow,” Glimmer groaned, letting herself fall onto his shoulder, unable to support herself.

“You can leave now,” came Netossa’s voice as she walked down the ramp with the rest of the royal guard.

The Horde soldier that had delivered Glimmer nodded and remounted their skiff. The skiff soon zoomed off under the watchful eyes of Netossa, Spinnerella, Angella’s general, and every rebellion recruit and fighter they could scrounge up in such short notice. They weren’t taking any chances with the return of Princess Glimmer.

“It’s alright; you’re safe now,” Bow tried to assure her, but she shook her head.

“No, nothing’s alright,” Glimmer said, “She’s gone, Bow. I was too weak to save her.”

“Slow down,” Bow said, “What happened?”

“Adora...she’s gone,” Glimmer said and started crying harder, “I couldn’t save her.”

“Why don’t we move this inside where Princess Glimmer can sit down?” Spinnerella suggested.

Netossa took that as her cue to take up a shoulder while Bow took on the other. Together they brought Glimmer to the war room where Bow, Netossa, Spinnerella, and the general all took up seats around her.

“Now say that again,” the general asked, “She-Ra is gone?”

Bow was already blaming himself. He knew he shouldn’t have let Adora try to rescue Glimmer on her own. He should have known what she was planning before she’d locked them out. He should have gone with her.

“She...Shadow Weaver. She said she was going to wipe Adora’s memories,” Glimmer started.

“She can do that?” Netossa asked incredulously.

Glimmer nodded, shaking more tears loose, “Adora was trying to trade herself for me, but Shadow Weaver said that she was going to wipe her memory so that Adora would be happy to have me as her prisoner.”

“Oh no,” Bow breathed.

“I tried to stop it, Bow,” Glimmer practically begged, “I tried!”

Bow hugged her and Spinnerella joined in, soon followed by Netossa.

“I’m sure you did everything you could,” Bow assured her.

It didn’t seem to reassure her.

“Don’t you get it?!” Glimmer yelled, pushing them off her, “It’s my fault. I wasn’t strong enough to break through Shadow Weaver’s enchantment and now Adora’s gone!”

“What happened next?” the general asked gruffly.

"I kept trying to teleport. Then Catra came back and she looked mad, but then I passed out,” Glimmer finished, “I woke up on the skiff coming back here.”

“Well that doesn’t have to mean that Adora’s gone,” Bow tried, clinging to what embers of hope he could, “Maybe Catra interrupted Shadow Weaver and saved Adora?”

Glimmer let out a strangled noise halfway between a laugh and a cry, “Catra? Since when has she ever made anything better? Face it, Bow, Adora’s gone.”

It was a dark reality that chilled Bow to his core. First Entrapta, then Angella, and now Adora. He didn’t know if he could stand it. What more would the Horde take from them?

There was a disturbing silence before Glimmer sniffed, “Where are the other princesses? I thought they’d be here. Where’s Mom?”

Netossa, Spinnerella, and Bow all exchanged nervous looks, each unsure how to tell Glimmer what had happened in her absence.

The general broke the silence, “The Princess Alliance disbanded after Princess Entrapta fell in battle.”

“What?!” Glimmer gasped, “Entrapta--”

The general interrupted to finish, “Your mother surrendered herself to the Horde in exchange for your freedom.”

Bow winced at the blunt delivery of such grim news.

“She what?!” Glimmer yelled at the top of her lungs, suddenly furious.

“Calm down,” Netossa said, “I’m sure all she wanted was for you to be safe.”

Glimmer did not calm down.

“And what about what I wanted?!” she roared, “I don’t want my mom to trade herself for me.”

“She did,” the general said bluntly, “And now we need to--”

“The Princess just lost her mom,” Netossa barked, “Give her a minute.”

The general fell silent as Glimmer rounded on Bow, “This wasn’t supposed to happen! Why didn’t you do something?!”

“Me? What could I have done?” 

“I don’t know! Used an arrow?! Something!” Glimmer yelled.

“That’s not fair, Glimmer,” Spinnerella started, but Bow was already free falling into guilt.

Tears streaming from his eyes, Bow agreed, “You’re right. I should have done something. I’m a bad friend!”

“Yeah! You are!” Glimmer yelled and shoved her way past all four of them.

“Princess, where are you going?” the general called, starting to follow only for Netossa to grab her. Glimmer didn’t answer and managed to slam the large council doors behind her.

“We need her,” the general insisted, shaking off Netossa, “In her mother’s absence the responsibilities of the crown fall to her. We need to plan our next move immediately. The Horde will not wait.”

“We’ll take care of the war stuff,” Netossa insisted, “until she’s had some time to calm down. Then we can deal with the royal stuff.”

The news was bad across every inch of the Rebellion. Morale had crashed to an all-time low after the morning’s news of Queen Angella’s capture spread. Recruits were disappearing from the Rebellion with every head count. Entire towns were defecting to the kingdoms of neighboring princesses in the hopes that they might be able to protect them. All in all, the Rebellion was in shambles and their outlook had never looked this bleak.

None of it mattered to Bow though. Their words flowed over him without impact. He was still reeling from Glimmer’s words. He tried to tell himself that she was probably just lashing out and didn’t mean it, but a part of him couldn’t shake the crushing fear that she was right. He’d lost their friend and then their best friend and hadn’t even thought about what it would do to her to lose her mother on top of all that. He had just wanted to see his best friend again, the only person who had really understood him since he’d left home.

Before then, there’d been Arrow, Bow’s older brother. They had been close and the only one Bow had ever told about not wanting to be a historian, but they were too far apart in age to have really been friends. Now Arrow was off being an archeologist for some university, and Bow only had Glimmer and Adora.

Or maybe Bow had just run out of friends. Maybe Adora really was gone and Glimmer would never talk to him again.

The thought was unbearable and Bow couldn’t just let it tear him apart. He had to do something. The words left his mouth before he even realized what he was saying, “I’m going back.”

“I’m sorry, you want to say that again?” Netossa asked.

“I’m going back to the Fright Zone,” Bow said, resolve building in his chest, “Entrapta--” he gulped down the sudden pang of loss, “Entrapta may be gone, but Adora and Angella are still out there and I’m going to get them back.”

“We’ve already lost too much in the last rescue attempt,” the general warned. “We can’t afford to commit any more resources to another.”

“I know,” Bow said, “That’s why I’m going to go alone.”

“But how are you going to get in?” Spinnerella asked, “Much less how are you going to get them out.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to get them out,” Bow said, the words coming to him as he spoke, “But I know how I’m going to get in.”

The rest of the table moved closer as Bow took a deep breath.

“I’m going to join the Horde.”

***

Bow’s heart was racing as he sat perched on a branch on the outskirts of Thaymor.

Thaymor, why did it always have to be Thaymor? They were still struggling to rebuild after the last Horde attack and according to what’s left of the Rebellion’s scouting network, there was going to be another attack tonight.

Bow’s plan here was simple: get caught.

According to the war council, the Horde recruited from its prisoners. So all Bow would have to do was get captured in the upcoming battle and tell them he wanted to join. It was easy!

As long as no one recognized him.

As long as they actually took him.

As long as--actually, Bow didn’t want to keep thinking about things that could go wrong just now.

“Are you Bow?” a child asked.

Bow jumped and fell out of the tree with a crash.

“It is you!” The child cried, “Look everybody! It’s Bow!”

That drew the attention of even more villagers who all started to crowd around him whispering things like, “It’s the Rebellion. We’re saved!”

“Bow’s helped save us before. He can do it again.”

“Maybe it’s not over yet?”

“Where’s She-Ra?”

The child stuck out his hand to try to help Bow up, “Are you going to save us from the Horde, Mr. Bow?”

Bow blinked, stunned by all the sudden attention and scared to realize that they must know that they were about to be attacked too.

“Because, my daddy said that we might have to leave the Rebellion if Bright Moon can’t protect us no more,” the child went on, oblivious to Bow’s horrified expression.

He had been so caught up in worrying about his own plan, he hadn’t even thought about what was going to happen to the villagers. Of course he had to help!

Bow got to his feet, looked out over the gathering crowd, and called, “The Rebellion never backs down without a fight. Count on it!”

And just like that, his plan got a lot more complicated.

The village soon rallied together with him and they got to work preparing for the oncoming Horde.

They didn’t know how large of a force to expect and Bow didn’t want to risk the village fighting an entire assault squadron so they focused their efforts on an organized evacuation while some of the adults and Bow set traps and stood guard with what weapons they could scrounge up.

It was a good plan right up until a pair of skiffs showed up coming from the wrong direction. 

They had planned for the Horde to come from the direction of the Fright Zone and set their traps accordingly. But the Horde must have anticipated that and flanked around them as they worked.

The evacuation was only halfway done and the skiffs were charging straight for the line of refugees, shock lances opening fire as they went.

“We have to protect the civilians!” Bow yelled and led the countercharge after the skiffs.

People of all kinds were dropping like flies as the screaming started and the evacuation line scattered.

They were just getting into Bow’s range, and he nocked an arrow as he ran, getting ready to take out the lead skiff. Then, to his horror, the skiffs pulled to halt in their own chaos and started loading up stunned refugees onto their vehicles.

“What are they doing?!” One of Bow’s fighters yelled.

“They’re taking them,” Bow called back, sick to his stomach. He lowered his bow. He couldn’t fire on the skiffs now, “Come on! We have to board the skiffs! It’s the only way we can get them back!”

But it was no use. The skiffs were loaded up before Bow and his fighters could reach them and they sped off into the night taking their civilians with them.

“At least it’s over,” another fighter said as Bow called off the chase, “Just one little raid.”

It was a morbid silver lining, but it was a silver lining. The attack could have been much worse.

Suddenly, Bow remembered why he had even come to Thaymor and he couldn’t help but kick himself. He hadn’t even managed to get himself captured. He should have been on those skiffs, not the people he’d promised to protect.

As if in perverse answer to his own wishes, the screaming started up again from a different direction and someone called, “They’re attacking the village!”

Explosions started to ring out in the distance and Bow saw tanks, skiffs, and bots were all moving into the village from the Fright Zone. It was a full assault squadron and the vanguard skiffs had pulled Bow and all of his fighters completely out of position.

“What should we do?!” A fighter asked, clearly on the verge of panicking.

Bow took a breath and pulled himself together. Now wasn’t the time to fall apart over his mistakes, “We get the civilians out.”

With that, he started to give rapid fire orders to his fighters, hoping his own resolve would inspire them.

It was a grueling fight that saw Bow down to his last arrow, but they still had their traps that temporarily disabled most of the war machines and Bow’s fighters were able to hold the Horde off long enough to finish the evacuation. Thaymor burned and might never be rebuilt this time, but the people were safe. Most of them anyway.

With that depressing thought, Bow gave his last order, “Fall back and get to safety! I’ll cover you!”

“What about you, sir?” A fighter called.

Bow swallowed his pride and lied, “I’ll be right behind you!”

He nocked his last arrow and took a stance between the overwhelming Horde forces and Thaymor’s evacuation route.

As tanks and skiffs converged around him, Bow chanced a glance behind him to see the last of his fighters swallowed by the treeline.

Mission complete, Bow loosed his arrow at the lead tank where it stuck in harmlessly and then raised his arms in the universal sign of surrender.

Troops, bots, and skiffs encircled him in moments as the tank came to a halt in front of him. The hatch opened and a Force Captain emerged from within to gloat, “Well, well, well. What’s a small fry like you doing defending an outpost like this?”

The Force Captain’s voice was distorted by his customized helmet, but he seemed amused about something. Bow had never actually seen a Force Captain in full armor before. He figured that they usually liked people to see the face of the person conquering them, but this Force Captain’s visor was tinted and hid his face.

Bow’s heart raced in his throat, but he reflexively shot back, “I’m not a small fry!” His voice cracked.

He winced as the Force Captain started laughing along with his troops.

At that moment, Bow’s last goo arrow exploded covering the Force Captain from head to toe in sticky green goo, silencing the laughter.

The Force Captain’s subordinates took that as their cue to stun Bow and he was blinded by multiple flashes of green light from shock lances.

All in all, the look on the Force Captain’s face probably would have been worth it if he could have seen it, Bow decided as he convulsed on the ground, fighting to stay conscious.

It was a losing battle though and soon Bow found himself being dragged into one of the skiffs along with more and more of the fallen refugees and fighters.

Even though he’d gotten most of the people out, it didn’t feel like a win to Bow. The war council had specifically withheld troops from protecting Thaymor for this. Bow couldn’t help but blame himself for each person in the skiffs.

Then he passed out.

***

Bow wondered if it was day or if it was still night. How long had he been out? How long had he been stuck in this windowless classroom?

Last time he had been captured, Catra had just tossed Bow in a cell and thrown away the key, but there had been no sign of Catra or Scorpia or anyone who recognized him this time. So he was being recruited like any other prisoner. He wasn’t sure whether that was better or worse. 

Right before he left for Thaymor, Netossa had taken Bow aside and warned him that the recruiting process was dangerous. She said that the Rebellion stopped trying to get spies into the Horde because so many of them never reported back after they were recruited. Bearing that in mind, Bow had been expecting a lot of things. Torture, mind control, advanced interrogation, all of it he had prepared himself for.

He had not been prepared for boredom.

Bow had been disarmed and rounded up into a group of the newly captured Thaymorians who were escorted to a classroom deep in the Fright Zone.

It wasn’t even a particularly interesting classroom. Barring the lack of windows, it looked like the same sort of classroom his dads would lecture at. The only thing that reminded them that they were prisoners were the guards prowling the sidelines and escorting troublemakers or people who talked about escape away. Bow asked where they went, but no one would give him a straight answer.

They had been mostly left to their own devices so long as they didn’t make trouble until an older woman from Thaymor came in to talk to them all.

She told a long winded story of being captured during the Horde’s first attack on Thaymor and how she was really scared at first, but she came to love the Horde and make more and better friends than she had before, blah, blah, blah.

It would have been a fascinating story if the woman didn’t have an overwhelming talent at making everything sound boring.

Bow could hardly believe it, but he was actually starting to miss his Dads’ homeschool lessons about First Ones. At least they always made First Ones history seem happy and fun.

He was sinking deeper and deeper into his thoughts when he was shaken by the Thaymor woman’s sudden shift in tone, “Oh! Force Captain! On your feet everybody.”

Bow got up with the other prisoners, wondering what was going on. This didn’t sound planned.

It was the same Force Captain from Thaymor, still with some splotches of goo in the hard to clean places in his armor. He gestured for everyone to sit back down, “Settle down, settle down. Don’t get up on my account. I’m just here to take Bow off your hands.”

Bow gulped as the Force Captain looked directly at him. Was he about to be taken to wherever the troublemakers go? Did they know he was a spy somehow? Did Catra hear about him?

“Bow?” the woman asked, oblivious to the crisis falling over him.

“That one,” the Force Captain clarified and pointed him out, turning every face in the room towards him.

Two guards seized his arms and “helped” him to his feet.

“Hey, be gentle with him. He’s just a little guy,” the Force Captain said in a joking tone. Only the woman laughed obligingly. “Gee, tough crowd.”

Bow’s heart beat faster and faster as he was led away from the familiar classroom and back into the much more intimidating prison cells. For a brief moment, Bow caught a glimpse of a cell that looked bigger than the others and a flash of wings confirmed that it was Angella’s cell, but then he was turned down a different corridor and she was gone.

It was the reminder Bow needed about why he had come, and he steeled his nerves. He would be ready for whatever horrors the Horde had in store for him.

He soon found himself in a small interrogation cell with a metal table and a chair on either side.

The guards left Bow alone with the Force Captain, who drew one of the chairs around the table to Bow’s side and plopped himself in it.

“Don’t stand on my account, baby Bow,” the Force Captain said, gesturing for Bow to sit.

That struck a chord with Bow, and he practically fell into his seat as the Force Captain took off his helmet.

It was Arrow. His own brother. It had been a while, but those playful eyes and charming smile were unmistakable.

Arrow smirked, “Hey, small fry. Long time no see.”

Bow gaped at him as all of his thought processes crashed into walls and he couldn’t form complete sentences.

“You...you...you,” Bow stammered.

“Take your time,” Arrow said, leaning back in his chair, “I’ll keep till you have the right words.”

Finally, Bow’s mouth managed a whole sentence, “The Horde attacked the University of Historical Endeavours?!”

Arrow burst out laughing and as he did so, pulled out Bow’s bow to gesture, “You got it completely right. The Horde definitely attacked the ‘University of Historical Endeavours.’ Just like the Rebellion attacked the ‘Academy of Historic Enterprises.’”

“Wait, hold on,” Bow said, still reeling, “So you never actually went to college? You’re lying to our dads! Just like me.”

“Like brother, like brother,” Arrow joked.

“But I ran away to join the Rebellion...” Bow said and felt the cold rush of reality hit him, “While you ran away to join the Horde.”

He couldn’t keep a note of accusation out of his voice, but Arrow didn’t seem phased by it. He tapped Bow’s nose with the bow, “Boop. Now you’ve got it. I can’t believe you stole dad’s bow. I mean, I get that he’s never going to use it again, but man.”

“I don’t understand,” Bow said, getting angry at Arrow’s flippant attitude, “How can you do this? How can you fight for the Horde even knowing what they’ve done?!”

Arrow sighed and set the bow down, getting serious, “Look, I actually don’t have long, but that’s why I took you out of Intro. I wanted to talk to you myself about this. I figured you’d trust me more than anyone else in this place.”

“What is there to talk about?” Bow demanded, “The Horde is evil. It destroys homes, families, lives. The people of Thaymor will never get their old lives back because of the Horde.”

Arrow shook his head and Bow felt a surge of self-righteous fury

“No, no, no,” Arrow said, “You have it wrong. You need to give it a chance to really understand.”

“I need to give ‘The Evil Horde’ a chance?” Bow asked incredulously.

Arrow sighed again, “It’s just, ‘The Horde,’ and you’re acting like it’s a nation or an army or something and it’s not. The Horde is an idea. It’s the people. It’s a home. It’s a family. And I know you know just how important family is.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Bow says, flustered, “We’re a family. Our dads are family. How can the Horde possibly be a family when they want to destroy us?”

“That’s just it, Bow,” Arrow said with a note of passion entering his voice, “The Horde wants to make the world a better place, not destroy it. Why do you think you’re here and not a prison cell? Can you say the Rebellion treats its prisoners better than we do?” 

Bow was stymied. He didn’t actually know what happened to the Horde soldiers the Rebellion captured. They had a spare room where they theoretically could keep a prisoner, but he’d never seen it used.

“The Horde takes all comers, no matter who you were. You don’t have to hide or pretend to be someone you’re not. As long as you can be a part of the Horde, you can be yourself in a family that loves you and accepts you just as you are,” Arrow pressed on, striking directly at Bow’s deepest insecurities, “All we want is to bring the people of Etheria together under one banner. Imagine that: No more borders. No more war. Just one big family getting along and working together. Isn’t that something worth fighting for?”

Arrow gave him a piercing look, but Bow didn’t know what to say. He really wanted to reject what his brother was saying, but another part of him desperately wanted it to be true. He’d thought he had found his home in the Rebellion, but even there he had to lie about his dads and where he came from. Only Angella knew he even had a family outside of Glimmer.

A quiet, traitorous part of Bow wondered if he could be really, truly free in the Horde? He quashed the thought as soon as it came, reminding himself that the Horde was evil and the Rebellion was his home.

Bow was spared having to answer by a knock at the door.

“Times up,” Arrow said, standing up, “Just…”

He broke off to hug Bow tightly, “I missed you, Bow.”

Despite the circumstances, despite everything, Bow couldn’t help but mean it when he hugged him back and said, “I missed you too.”

Arrow pulled back as guards reentered the room.

“Just give the Horde a chance, okay? That’s all I’m asking,” Arrow said, following Bow out, “You know me. We grew up with the same lessons about loyalty, trust, friendship, and family. You know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe in it.”

Bow still didn’t know what to say to that. 

He had thought he was prepared for anything the Horde recruitment process could throw at him, but he was wrong. He was shaken.

The guards reached a fork and Arrow gave Bow a friendly pat on the back, “Hey. I love you, small fry.”

“I’m as big as you,” Bow retorted automatically.

Arrow smirked, “You’ll always be a small fry to me, baby Bow.”

With that Arrow took the left fork and the guards took Bow down the right.

At the last second Bow pulled himself out of his reverie enough to call back, “I love you too.”

Arrow shot him a genuine smile before he rounded a corner and was gone.

***

Bow lost track of the days, but his rigorous schedule ensured he knew the time to the minute at any given moment. His class had begun training to join the Horde as soon as Bow had been returned to the classroom and they were taught by none other than Shadow Weaver herself.

Bow nearly jumped out of his seat when her masked face appeared on the massive screen and said to them all, “Your old life has come to an end. Your home is gone. Your friends and family are gone. But do not be afraid; these are but the growing pains of a new life, a better life. A life with the Horde. I am Shadow Weaver and I will guide you as you embrace your new family and your new home as we embrace you. Welcome to the Fright Zone.”

Something about a giant evil woman’s face looming over them all, welcoming them to the Fright Zone did not particularly reassure Bow, but he was relieved to realize that it was just a recording.

They were given uniforms and expected to sleep in individual dorms that were little more than prison cells with a bed and footlocker each. They were locked in at night, but they were kept so busy during the day that they usually just fell straight to sleep after lights out anyway.

Everyday they had lessons on loyalty, history, and integration, all taught by Shadow Weaver’s recordings, interspersed with physical and team building exercises proctored by lower ranking sergeants.

Bow learned very quickly that he wouldn’t get the chance to see Adora anytime soon. She was a full-timer, raised in the Horde and commissioned at that, while they were part-timers, recruits from captured prisoners. Until he was properly inducted, there was no chance of their paths crossing.

Everything moved faster than Bow felt like he could keep up with. It wasn’t until at least a week after he had been captured that he realized that none of them had even been asked if they wanted to join the Horde. It had been presumed and everyone just went along with it. At least, it felt that way to him. 

It was hard to tell what everyone else thought though, because Bow’s group kept getting subdivided and classmates were transferred every day to different groups.

It all left Bow with very little time to think, let alone process his feelings about what was happening. His meeting with Arrow weighed particularly heavy on his mind. He couldn’t fathom how one of his own brothers could tolerate the Horde, much less willingly join it, but his words ate at Bow. He’d be lying if he said that Arrow’s take on the Horde hadn’t spoken to everything he’d been looking for since running away from home.

Bow didn’t see Arrow again after that. In fact, he didn’t really meet anyone he recognized anymore after all the transfers. It was pure chance that he was assigned one of his fighters from Thaymor, Sprint, as his partner for a team building exercise.

“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Sprint said, “All that stuff they’re telling us about the Rebellion in True History. Is it true that they kill you if you get captured?”

A shard of ice settled in Bow’s stomach when he couldn’t outright deny it. The truth was that history was proving to be the most unsettling class for him too. Being raised as a historian, he knew that a lot of the accounts and footage of the Princesses’ old wars, the Rebellion’s failings, and the Horde’s triumphs were exaggerated, but nothing was completely fabricated and there were things even he struggled to reject.

As much as Bow loved her for it, he couldn’t deny that Glimmer and the other princesses weren’t exactly the most stable people he knew. He’d known that Angella avoided engagement a lot, but he was appalled to learn just how many villages she’d had the Rebellion abandon to avoid a fight. They were villages she had sworn to protect! That’s not to mention all the dozens of minor nations the kingdoms of the other princesses had left to fend for themselves after Micah died and they closed their borders. They never stood a chance on their own! 

It was all Bow could do to remind himself everyday that the Horde was trying to get him to see things their way and that the Rebellion were the good guys, but it was getting harder and harder to tell what was true.

Realizing that Sprint was still waiting for an answer, Bow said, “I can’t believe that. The Rebellion just wouldn’t do that.”

Sprint didn’t look convinced, but said, “Either way, I want to get out of here. Think the Rebellion will be able to come and save us?”

“Save you? But they can’t even save themselves,” interjected the third member of their group, Spritina, and giggled like she had told a joke, “Why would you even want to leave? The Horde has been treating us very well, I’d say.”

Bow gritted his teeth to prevent a righteous retort. Spritina had been assigned to his groups every day for weeks now and if he didn’t know better, he might have thought she was just there to spew Horde propaganda at them when the teachers weren’t around. She wouldn’t even say where she had been captured from. Though, that might just be because talking about their old lives was highly frowned upon.

“Treating us well?” Sprint retorted. “We sleep in cages every night and eat disgusting ration bars all day!”

“If you have a complaint, I’m sure I could pass it along to the sergeant after the lesson,” Spritina said sweetly.

It was a threat if ever there was one and it was all Bow could do not to try to start a riot right there to protect Sprint. Instead, he tried to pretend to be neutral and played peacemaker, “Okay, everyone. I think we’re all a little tired from the long day. Why don’t we take a breather and eat our ration bars? I’m sure we’ll all feel a lot better.”

The ration bars did not make Bow feel better, but Sprint got the message and dropped the subject.

He was still transferred by the next day.

That same day, everyone who was left in Bow’s group were moved to actual quarters and paired off with roommates. It was just his luck that his roommate turned out to be Spritina to remind him of how great the Horde was every night too.

On and on it went for longer than Bow could keep track of. Fact and fiction blurred along with good and evil. Some nights he would lay awake wondering how the Rebellion was doing, how Adora and Angella were doing, and whether he had left behind enough notes to Glimmer explaining what he was doing. Most nights though, he worried about whether he was going to pass his next loyalty test, if he was doing enough to impress the sergeants, or how to help his group get through their training examination with a higher score.

For better or for worse, the Horde became Bow’s life until suddenly he was being congratulated by his training sergeant at the end of his final examination, “Well done, recruit. You’re one of us now.”

Bow let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding and his voice cracked, “I passed?”

“You passed with flying colors,” the sergeant confirmed with a toothy grin, “It’s not often we see a drive like yours in part-timers. I’ll be putting you down as an officer candidate. Just try to keep that fire when you see combat and you’ll go far.”

“Thank you, sir,” Bow said, pulling off a crisp salute before giving into giddiness, “Ohhhh, this is so exciting! When am I going to meet my Force Captain?”

“Calm down, recruit,” the sergeant said, “Squad selection isn’t for another hour. Why don’t you find your locker and try on your new armor. Do a patrol of cellblock D and see if it pinches.”

_Present Day_

The armor _did_ pinch as Bow walked away from Angella.

This far away from the sergeants, Shadow Weaver’s recordings, the pressure, and everything else, reality was catching up with Bow again. 

Despite what he’d said to Angella, Bow still remembered his old life. He still fought for the Rebellion, for Glimmer, and for Angella herself. The recruitment process had nearly broken him, but he’d endured it. Hopefully the worst of the storm had passed. Now he was in and he was going to get Adora and Angella out no matter what it took.

Bow just hoped it would be over soon. He didn’t know much more his midriff could take trapped in this pinchy and constricting armor.

Just then, rounding the corner like she had always just a door away, was Adora looking lost in thought. She still wore her customary red jacket and white shirt, now once again sporting the Horde insignia. Strangely absent however, was her old Force Captain emblem.

Bow couldn’t hardly believe his luck, but didn’t want to miss his chance and ran after her.

“Hey! Hey, Adora! It’s me!” Bow called after her.

Adora stopped and turned faster than Bow expected. He ended up colliding with her and sent them both tumbling to the ground.

“Sorry! I am so sorry!” Both of them exclaimed at the same time as they awkwardly extracted themselves.

Bow was too excited to let that slow him down though. As soon as he was back on his feet he kept talking, “I’m so glad you’re okay! We were so worried about you!”

“Psht, it wasn’t that bad of a fall,” Adora said awkwardly, “So, anyway, I was going this way...”

Bow was confused, “Wait, wait it’s me! It’s Bow.”

There was no recognition of Adora’s face and Bow quickly pulled off his helmet to give her a better look at his face, “Don’t you remember me?”

“Riiight, Bow...how could I forget…you...?” Adora said awkwardly, still without an ounce of recognition.

Bow’s heart sank like a stone, “You don’t recognize me at all?” 

He didn’t need to hear her answer. Adora was being awkward in the way she was only awkward with strangers. She really didn’t know who he was. He knew Glimmer said Shadow Weaver had completely wiped Adora’s memories of them, but some part of him had still been holding out hope until that exact moment.

“Oh, _Bow_ ,” Adora said with a sudden flicker of realization. Bow’s heart soared.

“You’re that part-timer that broke my record on the loyalty test,” Adora remembered. She gave him a grin and a punch on the arm, “Better watch out or they’ll promote you and then you’ll have to actually do stuff.”

Bow sniffed and couldn’t stop himself from starting to cry as his hope was dashed.

“Oh. No...you’re crying,” Adora observed looking suddenly terrified, “I am so sorry. I, er, uh,” she covered her mouth, “ _Adora_ ,” she pretended to look over her shoulder, “Oh no, that’s Catra calling. Gotta go see what the old Force Captain wants, hah.”

In another world he would have laughed at Adora’s pathetic handling of the situation or admonished her. As it was, it only made him cry harder.

“Bye,” Adora said weakly and all but fled from the scene.

“Bye, Adora,” he managed before she was gone.

It looked like Bow was going to be in the Horde for a lot longer than he’d counted on if he wanted to get Adora back.


End file.
